Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128628
FIM World C h a m p io n s h ip 1 2 5 /250/500cc M X S e r ie s Round 1 4 : C ir c u it Kuelebierg in the second moto let Marnicq Bervoets have his first GP victory since Valkenswaard in early April , which took the Yamaha rider to within one point of Peter Johansson in their battle for the series' silver medal. Two days before his appeal against the 30-day riding ban, Mickael Pichon lost the 250cc series lead to fellow Frenchman Frederic Bolley, as t he defend ing champion took the win. Pichon's po ints lead was turned into an 18 -point def icit after th e rear shock exploded in race on e . But Gordon Crockard was th e ulti m ate he ro as he shrugged off s ick ne ss on the hottest d a y of th e s um - STORY AND PH OTO S B y ALEX HODGKINSON FO LKENDANGE,LUXEMBOURG, AUG. 10-11 lthough Mike Brown's double win in the 125cc class at the Luxembourg Triple Header ensured him of a second consecutive medal , it was not enough to salvage the American's c hances of th e t it le. Only James Dob b n o w h a,s a mathe mat ica l chance of stopping Grant Langston , who is set to g ive KTM its second World title of th e ye a r. In th e 500 c c GP , Joel Sm e t s e xte nd e d h is re c o rd m o to victo ry seq ue nc e to 14 before three c rashes A 28 A UGUST 30 , 2 0 00' cue I e n e _ s M ike Brown won both motos at the Luxembourg 125cc GP, but the victo ries come too late In the series to make a difference towarels his run for the UUe. mer to nearly win the second moto and stand on the 250cc podium for the third week in succession. 125ccGP "My Honda works well on t h is ha rd -packed type of track: admitted Brown afte r his decisive double win. After tak ing the ho leshot in ra ce one, Brown co ntrolled th e ra ce to the end. "[Luig i] Se guy was starting to p ush me in the midd le of the ra ce before he wen t ou t . but t hat wa s m y o nly concern : Brown sai d. Ign it ion fa ilu r e s ideli ne d t he Frenchman , Su igi, afte r 18 m inutes. Langston was a relieved runn er -up . "I didn 't quite hav e the speed her e and struggled to set a good lap time ye s te rd a y, so I'm happy with sec ond," Langston said. Indeed he could be , particu larly as th e 17 po ints put him out of Brown 's , rea ch , while rema in ing chall eng er J ames Dobb had been forced to pull out early on . "A rock smashed the clutch housing, " Dobb expla ined . Trampa s Park er comp le ted the pod ium but bemoaned his TM's lac k of power ag ain s t th e KTMs a nd the SRS -tuned Honda . " I co uldn ' t h op e to st a y with them ," Pa rker said . "I was losing two seconds a lap on the long uphill and the bac k st ra ight." Patr ic k Caps a n d T ho m a s Tra versini had both battl ed th rough from firs t -la p coll is ion s fo r se ve nt h a nd eig h t h, re s pe ct ive ly , whil e Ch ic c o Ch iodi, just two week s bac k on a bike and having his first race for months , wou ld have strugg led to make th e finis h anyway after suffering similarl y o n lap o ne . Brown aga in led ev ery lap of race two after qu ic kly passing Came rlen go an d Parker, bu t for 15 minutes he had to withstand inc rea sing pressu re from Langsto n unt il the So uth African spun ar ound in a tu rn . "I wa s clos ing Mike do wn a g a in, bu t with thr ee la ps to go, I co uld see that I was goin g to co m e up s hort , so I sett led for th e 17 po ints ," Langston said. "I ca n win the title in Finl an d in two weeks time now ." Indee d he c a n , need ing j ust 18 points th er e, after Dobb had finish ed nearly a m inute down. Th e En g lish man e ven los t third place to Ste ve Bo niface for a lap when Dobb sta lled his engine , but the French teenag er was elimina te d later whe n his Honda motor expired. Chiodi got away seventh this time o n his 2000 production Hus ky with U.S . facto ry forks a nd engine mods , but was out after a few laps. "I to uc he d with Bricca wh e n he crashed," he said. Parker dropped back eventually to 13th with a wrong tire cho ice , as Patrick Caps and Thomas Traversini again had to chase through from first lap coll isions. The Be lg ia n was rewarded with th ird overall from his two seventh pla ces. Segu y, too, went d o wn o n lap one, bu t re co vered re marka bly to finis h fourth . 250ccGP A Suzu ki hol eshot the first but it was that of J osh Coppins than series leader Pic ho n, a nd dio Fed e rici need ed less than a mo to , rather Claulap to